DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Southwest Airlines says it will begin flying out of Des Moines later this year. The Dallas-based airline said today that transition its AirTran operations to a Southwest operation. Beginning September 30, there will be two roundtrip flights between Des Moines and Chicago’s Midway International Airport. Southwest bought AirTran last year.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former kosher slaughterhouse executive convicted of fraud is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to shorten his sentence or order a new trial. Justices can either hear the case of ex-Agriprocessors Incorporated vice president Sholom Rubashkin or let an appeals court ruling from September stand. He was convicted of creating fake invoices about the plant’s financial condition and received a 27-year prison term.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha, Nebraska, school board has voted to offer its superintendent’s job to Des Moines superintendent Nancy Sebring. A Des Moines school spokesman said today that Sebring accepted the offer “pending successful contract negotiations.” The Des Moines board will meet Wednesday to discuss the search process for a new superintendent.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government has taken another step toward wide distribution of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol by allowing manufacturers to register as suppliers. E15 still has to clear another set of federal tests and become a registered fuel in individual states. Twenty ethanol makers that have registered to sell E15 are based numerous states, including Iowa.